


The Call

by AVegetarianCannibal



Series: Season 1 Fluffverse [2]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hannigram - Freeform, M/M, Smitten Hannibal, dorky Hannibal, drugged Hannibal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:38:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6286783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AVegetarianCannibal/pseuds/AVegetarianCannibal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alana learns something new about her friends, thanks to Hannibal's root canal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Call

**Author's Note:**

> A follow-up to ["The Way to a Man's Heart is Through a Root Canal." ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6156574)

Alana was just walking out of the lecture hall when she got the call from Hannibal.

“I love Will Graham so much,” he said without preamble.

Well, that was what she _thought_ he said. It sounded more like, “Ah lah Wheel Grah so mush.”

“Can you say that again?” she asked. “I think there’s something wrong with my phone; I can barely hear you.”

She heard Hannibal take a deep breath on the other end of the line and then: “ **AH! LAH! WHEEL! GRAH! SO! MUSH!** ”

She almost dropped her briefcase to the ground as she froze in her tracks. “Hannibal, are you all right? You sound… different.”

He babbled a for a few moments, a string of gurgles and grunts that she translated an explanation of some serious dental work and _intense_ sedation.

“You are high as a kite,” she laughed.

“Ah in lah,” he whispered. Then, much louder, “AH AM IN LAH!”

“You’re in love,” she said. “Okay, sure.”

“Wheel is juss so, so boofull,” Hannibal slurred.

“He is, indeed,” she agreed. Then she heard something that sounded like sobbing. Deep, shaky sobbing punctuated by hiccups and wailed questions of why didn’t Will love him back. “Hannibal, are you at home? I’ll be right over.”

***********

The first thing Alana did when she got to Hannibal’s was pry the gauze out of his mouth. She tilted his head up toward the light so she could get a look inside. It seemed like the bleeding had stopped, more or less, and she could at least understand him better this way.

“I noticed your car’s not outside,” she said. “So at least you didn’t try to drive home in this condition.”

“Will picked me up,” Hannibal said. “We flew in a beautiful blue airplane and we went to Morocco and I think I must have smoked some _very_ strong recreational drugs.”

“Well, that sounds lovely,” she said. “And did you… confess your… feelings to him?”

Hannibal giggled, which she had never seen him do in all the years she’d known him. His eyes sparkled with mischief. “I told him to make love to me.”

It wasn’t easy, but she stopped herself from asking whether Will had granted his wish. For one thing, she knew very well Will wouldn’t have taken advantage. For another, it was really none of her business. She was still adhering to her personal rule of not learning anything about Will she wouldn’t learn as his friend. But damn if it wouldn’t be fun to know Hannibal’s side of the story. If he’d taken Will’s old Volvo wagon for a beautiful blue airplane, she couldn’t _begin_ to imagine how he’d interpreted anything else that had happened.

Hannibal suddenly looked despondent, eyes glossy with unwept tears. “I don’t think he loves me back, Alana,” he said. “Do you think he loves me back?”

She busied herself with preparing another roll of gauze, just in case, pretending she hadn’t heard him. But Hannibal was persistent. He pawed at her sleeve like a kitten that didn’t want to be ignored.

“Ah… I couldn’t say,” she finally tried. “I mean, it’s not for me to say. That’s between you two.”

He dropped his face into his hands. “You’re trying to spare my feelings. You know he doesn’t love me!”

She couldn’t help but rub his back soothingly. “I’m going out to get us some ice cream,” she said. “Can I get you to stay put until I get back?”

He just groaned miserably.

*************

When she got out to her car, she called Will.

“Hannibal is having a really hard time with the drugs the dentist gave him,” she said. “He must’ve been a _terrible_ patient.”

“Oh, you’ve talked to him today?” Will asked, obviously trying really hard to sound casual. “Is he okay? I set him up on the sofa with a blanket, but he didn’t want to lie still.”

“He’s fine, more or less,” she said. “I just wanted to see how _you’re_ doing. You know, after… everything.”

“I’m fine!” he chirped, way too brightly. “I’m totally fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine? Nothing weird happened between us.”

“Of course not,” she said.

He sighed heavily and cursed under his breath. “Do you think he’ll remember anything? I don’t want things to be awkward between us after… you know… everything.”

“It’ll probably all seem like a weird dream,” she reassured him. “Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless you _want_ to bring it up next time you talk to him,” she said.  “You know, just in case there’s any reason to bring it up.”

He seemed to think about it for a long time. Alana could hear the dogs shuffling around in the background, as well as vague sounds of distress coming out of Will. He finally managed to drawl out, “Iiiii dunnooo.”

She was glad he couldn’t see her trying to hide a laugh behind her hand. It was painfully obvious her two friends were a _little_ hung up on each other, and neither of them seemed equipped to do anything about it while sober.

“Just think about it,” she told him. “I’m gonna go get him some ice cream and I’ll call you later if he remembers anything.”

“Oh!” Will said suddenly. “If you’re getting ice cream, he really likes the vanilla-cardamom flavor at the frozen custard shop two blocks south of his place. I… just… happened to know that.”

She ended the call before he could hear her burst out laughing. 

*********

When Alana returned with ice cream – a quart of vanilla-cardamom as she’d been instructed – she found Hannibal passed out in his bedroom. He’d made it most of the way to his bed before giving up and curling up on the floor, where he now lay, snoring fitfully. There was no way she was getting his dead weight up into the bed, so she pulled the comforter down on top of him and squeezed a pillow under his head.

“Will?” he mumbled, eyes still closed.

“’fraid not,” she said.

"You're a good friend, Alana," he said, and went right back to sleep.

She put his phone on the floor next to him, just in case he woke again needing help or just a sympathetic ear, and turned out all but one of the lights.

“I _really_ hope you remember some of this tomorrow,” she said, “because I have a feeling it would save a _lot_ of time and trouble if you do.”

He only snored in answer.

**Author's Note:**

> Now that I've done this, I realize I should have just made this Chapter Two of the first root canal fic. Instead, I goofed up and made it part two of a series? I don't even know how my own brain works.


End file.
